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MYSTERY LIONS OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS Continued from page 27 houses bordering dle Katoomba water catchment scrub were terrorised by mys road in front of them. The dark brown terious huge, hairy lion-like anima~s. furred animal disappeared into the dense scrub. Ron's brother, Phillip, in 1982, had a simHar experience when he saw the same type of ereatme while bike riding out on Tablelands Road, Wentworth Falls. According to old Aboriginal traditions of the former Burragorang and Megalong VaHey tribes, the eerie "Devils Hole", the great cleft in the cliffs out on Katoomba's Cliff Drive, which drops down into the Megal'ong Valley below Narrow Neck Pcninsula, was once the lair of the 'rock dogs', or Warrigals, - huge shaggy-haired animals thlit used to attack Aboriginals. Needless to say, Aborigines avoided the "Hole" as much as possible. They said it was up this cleft that the 'rock dogs' were able to move from out of Ithe valley up into the Katoomba scrub. Perhaps they still do. Several years ago, outlying farms and rest prior to climbing up the lIole' to the Cliff Drive. The time was about 4pm and as they sat on a trackside mck, they were They killed poultry, mauled cattle, and s.tartledi by a loud roaring noise coming left behind large tracks in the soil. from a nearby gully. At the time I was deluged with sight "Whatever it was, it sounded frighten ings reports of the monster cats, but after ing, and we got out of that place and up a few weeks they faded away as mysteri the Devils Hole as quick as we could", ously as they had happened. said the man to me later. The "Blue Mountains Lion" mystery The v-ast rugged impenetrable valleys persists. Only in January this year (1992) of the Blue Mountains remain much as several campers on the Wild Dog Ithey have for untold thousands of years. Mountains south-west of Narrow Neck There are still regions out there where Peninsula claimed they saw a large, modem mm has yet to penetrate. brownish-haircd, lion-like cat, in the act Who is to say what creatures could sur of sllI1Iling itself on a cliff edge. Whcn it vive unseen out there? saw the campers it rose up and bounded Until one of these animals can be cap off in big strides up and over boulders and tured, or the remains of one found, the down into a gully to disappear, leaving identity of the "Blue Mountains Lion" the group a little uneasy after this experi- remains unestablished. ence. And so these hairy, lion-like anim.als In anotber incident, in February this live on - eluding Man - and the vast wilds year, a man and woman were hiking of the Blue Mountains continue to keep below Devils Hole, when they stopped to their secret. I _.''1-'' ._- .... ,--, • ..,..., """........ I I , 64·NEXUS JUNE-JULY 1992